Breathtaking advances in computer-driven communication technology have made it possible for nobodies to become somebodies with a simple flip of a switch.

The explosion of TV channels and programming content has helped to foster the rise of what is ironically called reality television, which has revolutionized the way we entertain ourselves.

We watch amateurs singing, amateurs dancing, amateurs trying out for the lead roles in Broadway musicals. We watch as these amateurs of today become the stars of tomorrow, and we embrace them willingly.

Similarly, the explosion of the Internet has revolutionized the way we connect, communicate and do business with each other.

An infinite number of amateur profiteers and propagandists have started up an infinite number of amateur commercial enterprises, amateur advocacy organizations, amateur publishing houses and amateur promotion agencies.

The playing field for artists, enthusiasts and entrepreneurs has been leveled to ground zero, and the old standards, quality controls, and checks and balances of the past have been chucked unceremoniously out the window.

A gleaming symbol of this cultural change is the Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that pops up ubiquitously whenever one trolls for information on almost any subject.

Wikipedia bills itself as “the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.” In fact, readers are invited to “edit articles right now, even without logging in.”

That’s right, you actually can change what the encyclopedia says, any time you like, in any way you like.

Feuding with your neighbor? You can implicate him or her in some famous criminal act, by editing the Wikipedia to say so.

Naturally, alterations are reviewed, and reversed when necessary by Wikipedia personnel. As the web site states, “Inappropriate changes are usually removed quickly, and repeat offenders can be blocked from editing.”

But for a short time, at least, you can have it your way. Let your neighbor beware.

Obviously, Wikipedia is a new kind of encyclopedia.

Unlike encyclopedias of the past, which represented the compiled consensus wisdom of the leading scholars and experts of the day, Wikipedia is an open book, a work in progress, to which anyone can contribute anything, at any time.

It represents the compiled consensus wisdom of Tom, Dick and Harry.

It’s the encyclopedia of, by, and for amateurs.

The fact that it swiftly and surely has become the world’s most visited and used encyclopedia makes it a telling monument of the Amateur Age.

The Wikipedia is fun, no doubt, and it is incredibly convenient and easy to use. Obviously, though, it has its flaws — authority being one of them.

One day it says one thing. Another day it says another thing. It contains the voices not only of experts but of cranks. It’s the repository of a true democracy of knowledge.

Did I say democracy? I meant anarchy.

Can you imagine what life would be like if other bulwarks of our pop culture were to become as violable as the encyclopedia has become?

We better be prepared to imagine it, because life is headed that way.

Think of movies, for example. Already, a few titles have been released on DVD with interactive features that allow amateur viewers to craft their own variations of plot and effects.

Maybe one day it will be possible to visit the art museum and add our own expressive touches to famous masterpiece paintings, using paint provided by the museum.

Personally, I’d like to get a crack at a few statues, if the day ever comes. I would take the arm off Napoleon, the one he never uses anyway because it is stuck in his shirt, and I would give it to Venus de Milo, to replace the one she lost. Maybe I’ll give her Napoleon’s shirt, too. She needs a shirt.

There are some classics of literature that need fixing, too, heaven knows. Maybe books eventually will appear in digitally editable formats that will allow us to make sad endings happy, if that’s what we want.

Because we always should get what we want, right?

The time has come for me to draw this dissertation to a close. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed today’s column, and that you have found it be instructive and thought-provoking.